Forest bikes - decisions needed

graeme · Post by **graeme** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 12:15 pm

Forest bikes is almost ready to go, but first we need to make some decisions.

Deposit:
How much should it be?
I suggest £10 for vollies and £20 for non-vollies.

ID:
What will we accept and do we keep it until the bike is returned?
Keeping someone's ID is a big responsibility and scares me, we lose things.
I like the idea of taking a photo of the person with the bike they are borrowing.

Loan period:
I suggest a maximum of 1 week at a time, after that you would either start a new loan or join the waiting list.

Locks:
I suggest decent combination locks as there are no keys to lose.
The Bike Station has locks at £10.
I will buy 7 locks on Saturday unless someone else can go sooner.
There are leaflets with 20% off vouchers on the glass food display cabinet.

Admin:
Sean has made a bike loan book which we will use to record who has a bike.
I will print off info and disclaimer sheets for people borrowing bikes.
I would like a bikes@forest email contact address, how is this done?

Advertising:
How?
Where?
A poster is required, Nix? Sean?

Anything else?

ravanwin · Post by **ravanwin** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 1:04 pm

the deposit sounds fine.

maybe we can have a teir system for loans:

1 week
1 month
3 months

and maybe we have a certain ammount of each?

locks: sounds good.

ID should be ok, if kept in the drawer with the bike book.

pm duncan for an bike email adress.
r

chombee · Post by **chombee** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:49 pm

Good idea about the tier system Ryan.

Graeme, I think all your suggestions are good on all the decisions.

ID:
What will we accept and do we keep it until the bike is returned?
Keeping someone's ID is a big responsibility and scares me, we lose things.
I like the idea of taking a photo of the person with the bike they are borrowing

Photos could be a pain. I suppose if we had a digital camera specifically for forest bikes, then we would take photos and review them on the camera itself. Would be cheapest and most convenient. If we aren't happy holding ID, another possibility would be to get each renter to write down their name and a secret phrase that they make up on a piece of paper or forest bikes card, which we then keep. If they have the name and phrase, and the bike and lock, they get their deposit back.

Sorry about the poster, I totally forgot about it. I will try to do it when I can, which is not now. It would be better if someone else could pick it up. Nix would be better than me if he has time.

graeme · Post by **graeme** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 6:15 pm

No worries about poster I had forgot you forgot!
I like Nix cave poster and a variation on that would be good.
We have barred cam which could also be bike cam, I want to start taking more photos and may think of a way to be creative with the bike loan photos as a personal project.

Shannon · Post by **Shannon** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 7:37 pm

I think the loans should be short term. If people are going to be around for a month or three months, they should get a bike and come to the workshop to learn how to fix it up. If it gets popular, it isn't fair for someone to have the bike for months while others are waiting. I also feel like we're less likely to get them back at the end if it's a month or more....

graeme · Post by **graeme** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 12:27 am

I agree with loaning the bikes out on a short term basis.
It would give us a chance to check the bikes over on a regular basis and pick up on any potential problems, pump up tyres, lube chains etc.

Martin · Post by **Martin** » Thu Oct 25, 2007 11:37 am

Maybe a week? Take it away at a workshop, bring it back at the next one.